NSC in Crisis: Power Struggles Undermine National Security PT.1

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Crisis at the NSC: Breaking Down the National Security Council’s Mess and President Trump’s Plan for Change Part 1

In a fiery conversation about the National Security Council (NSC), Steve Bannon, Ezra Cohen, and Josh Steinman discussed the crisis unfolding inside one of the most critical bodies of the U.S. government. The conversation delved deep into what went wrong under the Biden administration, the need for reform, and how President Trump tackles the issue head-on as he serves his second term in office.

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Bannon opened with a sharp critique, reflecting on his experience with the NSC when General Flynn was appointed in 2017. He recalled, “When General Flynn asked for an organizational chart in the first few days, it showed 292 billets. 75 of those were filled with detailees—people brought in from agencies like the Pentagon.” According to Bannon, in the 1980s, the NSC had just 25 people and managed the world. He asked, “What’s going on? How did we end up with this bloated bureaucracy?”

Ezra Cohen jumped in, clarifying the nature of these “detailees.” These are individuals selected by politically appointed staff from various agencies, often with ties to the previous administration. Cohen explained, “These people were hand-picked by Biden’s team. When President Trump took office in 2017, the goal was to break the system and shut down the autopilot, ensuring the previous administration’s policies didn’t continue. Now that Trump is back, he is once again focused on dismantling the same broken system that Biden left behind.”

The NSC’s current structure was designed to serve as a coordinating body that advises the president, but it has become entangled in bureaucracy. Josh Steinman reflected on the decision not to run wars directly from the NSC. “Trump made a conscious decision not to repeat the mistakes of the past, where White House staffers ran operations,” Steinman said. This decision starkly contrasts the approach under Biden, where the NSC has grown in influence and control.

The panelists highlighted the immediate steps required to restore order. “We need to stop the bleeding,” Cohen stated. “The agencies are out of control, and without the right political appointees in place, we’ll see the continuation of disastrous policies from the past administration.” Bannon agreed, pointing out the “crisis situation” left after Biden’s tenure.

Bannon also stressed the importance of tackling the intelligence community’s influence, particularly the CIA. “The CIA is everywhere,” Bannon declared. “It’s in the Pentagon, DHS, FBI—it runs the show.” Cohen elaborated on how the CIA’s extensive reach has allowed it to influence policy through “back-channeling” and “manipulation” of the NSC process. “It’s not just the meetings,” Cohen said. “It’s the behind-the-scenes control that the CIA exerts.”

Cohen added that while Trump’s administration sought to pull the agencies out of politics, the current system has become mired in bureaucratic infighting. “The intelligence community should be informing policy, not making it,” Cohen argued, adding that the problem lies in how the agencies have become distracted by domestic politics rather than focusing on foreign adversaries.

The conversation turned to the broader issue of the “deep state” and the need to decentralize power from Washington. Cohen stressed the importance of breaking up the entrenched structures within agencies, suggesting that the bloated nature of the intelligence apparatus harms the country’s ability to respond effectively to global threats. “We have to break up the inner-agency process, or else the CIA will keep control of everything.”

Cohen defended Trump’s approach, clarifying, “We are not proposing to destroy the intelligence community. We’re just trying to decentralize it, make it more effective, and remove the political influence.”

For Bannon and his colleagues, the crisis at the NSC is a symbol of the broader dysfunction within the federal government. “You’ve got to take a hammer to the CIA,” Bannon insisted, emphasizing that only by deconstructing the administrative state can the country return to a system where decisions are made quickly and decisively, without the deep state’s interference.

As the conversation wrapped up, Bannon left a stark warning. “We’re in a race against time,” he said. “The more we delay, the more power the bureaucracy gains. President Trump has made it clear that if we don’t act swiftly, the bureaucratic machine will only grow stronger. The time to act is now.” For Bannon, Cohen, and Steinman, the key to restoring the U.S.’s security and political independence lies in dismantling the overgrown structures of the NSC and intelligence agencies—and stopping the bleeding before it’s too late.

Ezra Cohen: “The Intelligence Community Is Distracted And Has Lost Sight Of The Objective”

The post NSC in Crisis: Power Struggles Undermine National Security PT.1 appeared first on Stephen K Bannon’s War Room.



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